


Forest Nights

by nocturneforest



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 04:37:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6105148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturneforest/pseuds/nocturneforest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma is in her bedchamber in camelot, when she receives a note from Killian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forest Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Since I just made this account, I thought I'd start by posting all my old work, so this is from season 5a, while everyone was still in camelot. Basically just a fluff fest. Enjoy!

It’s strange how things work. One minute she was Emma swan, living in Storybrooke with a son that she loved and surrounded by people that loved her, and the next, she found herself falling in a downward spiral towards darkness, in a land that she’d never known of before her arrival.

She’s staring out over her bedchamber balcony, listening to the sound of the waves crash on the rock below. Her turret is high up, and she has the perfect view of where the castle meets the sea, though she can’t quite make out where the sea meets the sky. One thing she knows for sure, is that she’s never seen a sky like this before. The stars that dot the infinitely black abyss seem bright enough to light up the night, along with the help of the crescent moon that hangs low in the sky.

A cool summers breeze sweeps past Emma, bringing her hair along with it in every which way. Aside from the wind and the waves, the castle is filled with nothing but silence. Inside her bedchamber, a candle flickers, lighting up the room in a wash of warm light.

She thinks about the obscurity of it all - going from the saviour to the dark one. She was supposed to be the one to bring back the happy endings, not the one to take them away. So how did she end up like this?

Suddenly, a dove lands on the balcony fence next to her, breaking her away from her thoughts and anchoring her back to reality. She eyes it for a moment, before realizing that it has a note attached to it’s leg. Unsure of how the whole ‘carrier pigeon’ thing works (she is from the modern world, after all), she hesitantly reaches for it’s leg and unties the rolled up note.

She pulls the scroll open, and heads back into her bedchamber so that she can read whatever is written on it in proper lighting. Upon nearing the candle that sits atop her bedside table, she can make out Killian’s messy handwriting scribbled across the parchment.

Follow the roses. - K

That’s all the note reads. ‘Follow the roses’. She considers the message for a moment, before scanning the room for roses. There’s no roses in the room, so she heads towards the big, wooden, bedchamber door and yanks it open.

Placed delicately on the floor, right outside the door of her bedchamber is a pink rose petal. She steps out into the hallway, which is dimly lit by candle light, and can make out a path of the rose petals that lead down the hallway, turning at the next bend.

She finds herself smiling at the idea that Killian went to all this work just for her, as she begins to follow the trail of rose petals. The path twists throughout the hallways, leading her down to the main courtyard. Every so often along the trail, there is an entire rose - she picks these ones up, beginning to form herself a nice bouquet of rosy pink flowers.

The trail extends out through the main courtyard, and begins to follow a trail that edges alongside the castle, and eventually turns, leading her into the forest. At some point along the way, the rose petals become accompanied by jars, each jar with a candle placed inside it. The candles light her way through the forest, until eventually she reaches a clearing.

The clearing is surrounded by candles, and has jars with candles scattered throughout the grassy forest floor. In the middle of the clearing stands Killian, a big, goofy grin spread across his face, one of his hands tucked behind his back.

“M’lady,” he says, walking over to her and pulling one last pink rose out from behind his back to finish her bouquet, “Nice of you to join me.”

“Killian I don’t know what to sa-”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just come enjoy the evening.” He’s still smiling at her when he takes her by the hand and leads her into the middle of the clearing, where he’d laid out a blanket on the grass.

“Why?” She asks, “I mean, what are we celebrating?” She feels the need to add that last bit on, as she doesn’t want to seem rude.

“Our anniversary, of course. It’s three months today since our first ‘real’ date.” She feels guilty for forgetting, but then again she’d been a little bit occupied by other matters. But either way, she finds it cute that he hasn’t forgotten. He didn’t really seem to her the type to be sentimental, or remember dates like this but, maybe she was wrong about him.

There’s not much light to go by, but despite that, she can still make out the blue of his eyes. She allows herself to drown in them for a moment, do drown in his gaze, his presence, his love. Slowly and carefully, she closes the gap in between them, her lips meeting his. And in that moment, she could swear time stopped, and that nothing existed other than the two of them in that meadow, Killian’s fingers running through her hair, his other arm wrapped around her back, the feeling of his warmth as he’s pressed up against her, holding her close. Nothing existed other than them in that moment, and nothing else needed too. She had all she needed right here.

“Thank you. For everything.” She says when they break apart, the corner of her lips twisting up into a delicate smile.

“Don’t mention it,” He whispers, “Now, come, I want you to see something.” His hand slips into hers, their fingers interlacing. Slowly, he lies down on the blanket, and she does the same. resting her head in the crook of his neck.

“Killian what’re-”

“Shh - just look up.” He whispers, “The stars. They’re beautiful.”

Killian Jones, fearsome pirate, ruler of the seas, has a soft spot for stargazing. She finds herself almost giggling at the thought of it.

“My brother used to bring me stargazing, would teach me how to navigate, but I’ve never seen a sky this bright in my entire life. I thought you should be here to share it with me.” He says, softly.

She’s about to open her mouth to speak, but instead decides just to be here, in this moment. This moment, staring up at the infinite abyss of the cosmos, Killian by her side. The stars are resting high up in the sky, millions of miles away from them, though in this moment, she could swear they surround her, that they fill this meadow with their sparks of light, that they reside within her. And here, here there’s no noise. No darkness that surrounds her, no voices in her head. Only the sweet sound of the summer breeze and the crickets and Killian’s deep, even breathing and the sound of their hearts beating in the same pace.

She’d lost all track of time, but what seems like not long afterward they’re both on the edge of sleep. She can feel Killian’s breaths slow with the rise and fall of his chest, and her eyelids getting heavier and heavier with each second that passes.

“Killian?” She whispers, only to be met by a soft “Mmm-Hmm?” from him in return.

“I love you.” She says it softly and carefully, taking her time with it. The last time she’d said it it was rushed, and she’d wished she’d said it earlier. But now, in the quiet of his presence, when it was just the two of them, it meant so much more.

“And I you.” He whispers back, without a moment’s hesitation. And with that, and the darkness nowhere in sight, Emma falls asleep.


End file.
